Easy Science Experiments for Kids

31 Simple, Cool and Fun Experiments to try at Home.

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Who says that it is hard to do science when you are homeschooling? There are lots of simple, quick and easy experiments that don't need a lot of expensive equipment - but still give great results.

Why not try these 31 fun science experiments - one a day for a whole month. Although they are quite simple to try, they will help you cover a lot of scientific principles in your homeschool lessons.

We enjoyed our month of easy science experiments and I hope you do too!

Easy Science Experiments for Kids

Kids love to explore the world around them - but isn't it disappointing when you set up a science experiment for a home school lesson and it doesn't work?

The 31 easy science experiments listed here are all fun to try - with equipment you will easily find at home. They are simple and quick - but give great results.

You will be amazed at how working through these simple experiments will cover lots of different science principles - and to make it easy for you I have explained the experiments for you on a separate homeschooling-ideas.com page.

Why not try working through this easy science experiments list with a 'lesson' every day? I think you and your children will have fun discovering how things work! And how easy it is to study science!

Warning - some of these experiments involve lit candles. ALWAYS supervise children around fire.

1. Mix some pepper and coarse salt together and place on a flat surface. Blow up a balloon and rub it on your hair! Now hold it over the salt/pepper mix. The pepper will separate out and stick to the balloon. Do you know why?
2. Pour some full fat milk into a saucer and add some drops of food coloring in different places around the milk. Pour a drop of washing up liquid into the center of of saucer and see what reaction you cause.
3. Make a drawing with different colored felt pens on blotting paper (black works very well for this). Dip the bottom of the blotting paper into a bowl of water and allow the wet to rise through the paper onto your drawing. What happens?
4. Place a white carnation into water containing a few drops of food dye. Watch the flower 'drink' the color into it's petals - you should start to see a change in the color in about 30 minutes or so.
5. Roll a piece of paper into a tube and look through it with your right eye. Hold your left hand open with your palm in front of your left eye - still looking through the tube with your right. You will find you have a hole through your hand!





6. Place a lit candle in a saucer of water, then place a glass jar over the top of it (so the rim of the jar sits in the water). The water will be sucked up inside the jar. The candle will burn for a while then go out. Do you know why this happens?
7. Place 1 tablespoon of baking soda into a bowl. Pour in some vinegar. What reaction takes place?
8. Place a heavy coin into a small matchbox tray, then float both in a glass of water. Mark the level of the liquid on the glass. Will the level rise or fall when you remove the coin from the box and place it in the water?
9. Hold a metal sieve over a candle flame. You will see that the flame reaches to the wire but does not go through it. Why?
10. Use lemon juice or vinegar to write a message onto paper. Hold it (carefully - keep the paper moving) over a flame to cause the message to appear.
11. Fill a glass full of dried peas then pour in water up to the brim.. The pile of peas slowly becomes higher and begins to fall out of the glass. Note - I have seen this experiment done by standing the glass on a tin tray - the peas make quite a noise as they fall!
12. Blow up a balloon and stick tape on two opposite sides. Now carefully push a knitting needle through the sticky -taped sections. Why doesn't the balloon burst?
13. Place a ping-pong ball inside a large jar of water. If you hold a tall glass upside down over the ping-pong ball and push down, will the ping pong ball stay where it is, or move?
14. Pour some white vinegar into a bowl and add a spoonful of baking soda. Wait until the fizzing stops. Now light a candle and move the flame towards the vinegar. The flame will go out before it gets there. Why?
15. Here is a fun and easy pepper experiment. Sprinkle lots of pepper over the surface of a bowl of water. Put some soap onto your finger and place this in the center of the pepper. What does the pepper do?
16. This is a great experiment from CandyExperiments.com. Drop M&Ms or Skittles letter side up into some water. After a few minutes watch for the floating letters! (And be sure to check out her other easy science experiments while you are there!).
17. Fill a glass with a clear fizzy drink (sprite, lemonade or sparkling water). Add a handful of raisins. Watch for several minutes. What happens to the raisins?
18. Put some ice in a bowl and some grains of rice on the counter next to it. Put your hand in the bowl for 30 seconds. Try to pick up the rice. Why is it so hard?
19. Fill 3 bowls of water - one should be very warm, one room temperature, and one cold.. Place one hand in the warm water bowl and one in the cold. After a minute, place both hands in the room temperature bowl. How do they feel?
20. Put a pinch of salt on top of an ice cube and leave it in a cold place for 10 minutes. What happens?
21. Fill a glass with water. Put a needle onto a small piece of tissue paper and lay it gently onto the surface of the liquid so that it floats. What happens next?
22. This experiment works best with an open type mushroom (ie. not a button mushroom). Cut the stem off the mushroom and place it face down on a piece of paper for a couple of hours. When you lift the mushroom you will see the spore pattern left on the paper.
23. Half fill a glass with water. Dip your (clean!) finger in the water and run it round and round the rim of the glass. You should get a musical note. How does this happen?
24. Make slime! My Silly putty recipe includes the science behind it.
25. Make a whirlpool in a bottle. Take 2 empty plastic bottles and fill one of them 3/4 full with water. Tape the neck ends of the bottles together tightly. Turn the bottles so the liquid filled one is on top and give the bottles a swirl. You will cause the water to move in a circle and cause a tornado.
26. Place some room temperature or warm double cream in a clean jar and screw on the lid. Begin shaking the jar. The cream will churn and separate into butter and buttermilk.
27. Place a lit candle behind a box. Stand in front of the box and try to blow out the candle. What happens if you replace the box with a bottle and try again?
28. Try an easy this sticky rice experiment from the BBC.
29. Here is a great experiment on crushing sugar in the dark to cause flashes of luminous blue light. Be sure to read the directions carefully.
30. Make a rubber egg. This easy experiment takes a few days. Place a raw egg (in it's shell) in a jar and cover with white vinegar. Leave for 2 or 3 days. Your egg will turn rubbery. Why?
31. Choose one of my 31 Easy Water Experiments for Kids for your last day of experimentation!

These easy science experiments are just the beginning! Get into the habit of trying something new each day to see what happens. Encouraging your children to ask 'What if' is a great gift that they will come to appreciate!

I hope these easy science experiments are helpful to you in your homeschool science!

Looking for more easy science ideas?

The Periodic Table for Kids

Home School Science Projects.

Home School Science Books.

Go to more Homeschool Science from Easy Science Experiments

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